Cartridge for the preparation of a liquid product, and corresponding assortment

ABSTRACT

A cartridge (10) for the preparation of a liquid product by means of liquid and/or steam introduced into the cartridge (10) comprises a casing (14) having inside it a first receiving chamber with a filling of a first substance (S1) for preparation of said liquid product. The casing has a bottom wall (142) through which the liquid product is able to flow out of the cartridge (10), with said bottom wall (142) having, if viewed from outside the cartridge (10), a protruding central portion (1420) having inside it a second receiving chamber with a filling of a second substance (S2) for preparation of said liquid product. Applied on the bottom wall (142) is a laminar filter element (180) that separates the first receiving chamber from the second receiving chamber. The bottom wall (142) has at least one opening (1428) for outflow of said liquid product from the cartridge (10) located in the protruding central portion (1420), coupled to which is a further filter element (182).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to cartridges for preparing liquid products.

Various embodiments may refer to cartridges for preparing beverages, for example coffee.

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Cartridges (or capsules or pods, according to other terms widely used) for preparing liquid products, such as a beverage, via introduction, into the cartridge, of liquid (possibly under pressure and/or at a high temperature) and/or steam constitute a technological sector that is extremely rich and articulated, as documented, for example, by FR-A-757 358, FR-A-2 373 999 (corresponding to which is U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,202), FR-A-2 556 323, GB-A-938 617, GB-A-2 023 086, CH-A-406 561, U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,617, U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,812, U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,297 (corresponding to which is FR-A-1 537 031), WO-A-86/02 537, EP-A-0 199 953, EP-A-0 211 511, EP-A-0 242 556, EP-A-0 468 078, EP-A-0 469 162, EP-A-0 507 905, WO 2010/106516 A1, and EP-A-2 218 653.

A fair share of the solutions described in the documents referred to above primarily regards preparation of liquid products constituted by beverages such as coffee, tea, chocolate, broth, soups, or various infusions.

As regards the preparation of coffee are solutions known (for example from EP-A-0 507 905) that enable preparation of espresso coffee.

There are likewise known and widely used solutions in which the consumer buys a machine (e.g., a coffee machine) and then purchases cartridges specifically designed and produced for functioning in combination with that machine.

In this way, for the consumer, at the moment of purchase certain salient characteristics of the cartridge/machine system are defined and substantially can no longer be modified, these characteristics, for example, being:

-   -   the outer shape of the cartridge for enabling it to be         introduced into the machine;     -   the configuration of the infusion chamber that contains the         cartridge during the process of brewing of the liquid product,         such as a beverage;     -   the modalities of interaction of the material constituting the         cartridge with the infusion chamber;     -   the modalities of brewing of the beverage;     -   the modalities of introduction of the cartridge at start of         delivery; and/or     -   the modalities of ejection of the cartridge at the end of         delivery.

For instance, EP-A-0 507 905 describes a cartridge that is to be perforated by filtering tips as a result of the pressure of the liquid and/or steam introduced into the cartridge.

A solution of this type may be used, for example, for producing cartridges or capsules of a perforable type, in which:

-   -   the top sealing foil of the cartridge (through which hot water         and/or steam is introduced) is mechanically perforated by the         delivery assembly via a first set of perforating tips; and     -   the bottom of the cartridge (through which the beverage flows         out) can be perforated by a second set of hollow tips (roughly         resembling injection needles) with filtering characteristics.

Solutions of the above type are particularly suited for dispensing beverages of an espresso-coffee type.

Documents such as EP 1 295 554 A1, WO 2006/005736 A2, or EP 1 886 942 A1 identify specific solutions regarding filtering tips, the mechanism of opening/closing/perforation by the perforating tips, and the type of cartridge, with corresponding system.

The document No. WO 2010/106516 A1 describes a type of cartridge such as to combine a filter paper and a biopolymer, the filter paper being positioned on the side of the outlet for the beverage (coffee).

Again, the document No. WO 2012/077066 A1 describes a cartridge in which the perforation is aided by the combination of a biodegradable/compostable polymer with material such as paper.

Reference may again be made to the document No. WO 2010/137952 A1, where a cartridge or capsule is described configured for functioning in a machine (originally designed to function with a cartridge of a different type) provided with tips that are designed to tear the cartridge upon mechanical closing of the assembly for enabling entry of water into the cartridge through the tears made. The cartridge according to the solution described in WO 2010/137952 A1 is configured so as to not to interact with the perforating tips of the machine in so far as the tips in question do not touch the bottom of the cartridge.

One or more embodiments may refer to cartridges of the type described in WO 2014/097039 A1.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY

The object of the various embodiments is to provide further improvements over the solutions referred to above, for example as regards the possibility of preparing liquid products starting from a number of substances and/or the possibility of using in succession one and the same machine for preparing different liquid products, reducing any possible effects of cross-contamination.

Various embodiments enable the above object to be achieved thanks to a cartridge having the characteristics recalled in the ensuing claims.

Various embodiments may also regard an assortment of cartridges with differentiated characteristics.

The claims form an integral part of the technical teaching provided herein in relation to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments will now be described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a cartridge according to embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from beneath of embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view according to the line III-III of FIG. 2, reproduced at an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 4 illustrates, at a further enlarged scale, the portion of FIG. 3 indicated by the arrow IV.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrated in the ensuing description are various specific details aimed at providing an in-depth understanding of various examples of embodiment. The embodiments may be implemented without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other cases, known structures, materials, or operations are not illustrated or described in detail so that the various aspects of the embodiments will not be obscured. Reference to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” in the framework of the present description is intended to indicate that a particular configuration, structure, or characteristic described in relation to the embodiment is comprised in at least one embodiment. Hence, phrases such as “in an embodiment”, “in one embodiment”, or the like that may be present in various points of the present description do not necessarily refer to one and the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular conformations, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any adequate way in one or more embodiments.

The references used herein are provided merely for convenience and hence do not define the sphere of protection or the scope of the embodiments.

In the figures, the reference number 10 designates as a whole a cartridge (or pod, or capsule, these terms being used herein as being equivalent) for the preparation of a liquid product via introduction of liquid and/or steam into the cartridge.

In one or more embodiments, the cartridge 10 may contain a filling or dose 12 (represented schematically with dashed lines just in FIG. 3) of a substance or ingredient for the preparation of a liquid product such as a beverage, chosen, for example, from: toasted and ground coffee, leaf tea, powdered or soluble milk, soluble coffee, soluble chocolate, soluble barley, sugar, soluble powdered flavourings, and combinations thereof.

In one or more embodiments, the liquid product in question may be obtained by introducing into the cartridge liquid and/or steam under pressure and at high temperature (i.e., hot).

In any case, the possible reference, in the framework of the present detailed description, to the preparation of a particular beverage is not to be understood as in any way limiting the scope of the description, which is altogether general.

In one or more embodiments, the cartridge 10 may contain, as exemplified in what follows:

-   -   a filling S1 of a first substance (i.e., a first ingredient) for         preparation of the aforesaid liquid product; and     -   a filling S2 of a second substance (i.e., a second ingredient)         for preparation of the aforesaid liquid product.

The substances in question are represented schematically with dashed lines just in FIG. 3.

For instance, in one or more embodiments:

-   -   the first substance (i.e., S1) may be chosen from: toasted and         ground coffee, leaf tea, powdered or soluble milk;     -   the second substance (i.e., S2) may be chosen from: soluble         coffee, powdered milk, soluble chocolate, soluble barley, sugar,         soluble powdered flavourings, and combinations thereof.

In one or more embodiments, in the structure of the cartridge 10, which may be shaped like a tray or small cup within which the substances S1 and S2 are present, it is possible to distinguish:

-   -   a casing 14, comprising a side wall 140 and a bottom wall 142         that closes the casing 14 at one end of the side wall 140; and     -   a sealing foil 16, for example of a peelable type, which closes         the cartridge 10 at the end opposite to the bottom wall 142.

The sealing foil 16 is suited to being sealingly connected, for example by heat-sealing, to the side wall 140 of the casing 14 of the cartridge, for example at a flange 144 that surrounds the mouth part of the casing 14.

In one or more embodiments, as represented in the figures, the casing 14 may have a tray-like conformation diverging from the bottom wall 142 to the end closed by the sealing foil 16. In one or more embodiments, the diverging conformation may be a frustoconical conformation. This conformation is not on the other hand imperative in so far as the cartridge 14 may present as a whole different shapes, for example prismatic, frustopyramidal, square, etc.

Various embodiments may refer to the fact that the bottom 142 can present a sculptured structure, i.e., with alternating parts in relief and recessed, for example according to the criteria illustrated in WO 2014/097039 A1 (already cited previously), to which the reader is referred for a more detailed description. For the purposes of the present description, it may be noted that, in one or more embodiments, the bottom wall 142, through which the liquid product is able to flow out of the cartridge 10 may present, when viewed from outside the cartridge 10, a protruding central portion 1420.

In one or more embodiments, the bottom part 142 may likewise present one or more openings 1428 to enable exit of the liquid product (e.g., a beverage) formed in the cartridge 10.

In one or more embodiments, the aforesaid at least one opening 1428 is provided in the protruding central portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.

In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here, there may be provided openings 1428 located both in the central portion 1420 and in the areas of the bottom wall that surround it (e.g., one or more of the annular cavities/ribbings of the sculptured conformation of the bottom wall 142).

In one or more embodiments, as may be appreciated more fully in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the bottom wall 142 may present, if viewed from inside the cartridge 10, a surface that is as a whole planar (at least in the aforesaid central portion 1420), with the consequent possibility of applying on said planar surface a lamina (e.g., a disk) 180 comprising filtering material, such as filter paper or nonwoven fabric.

In one or more embodiments, the filter element 180 can thus divide the internal volume of the cartridge 10 into:

-   -   a first receiving chamber (at the top in the figures) comprised         between the filter element 180 and the sealing foil 16, in which         the filling of the first substance S1 can be located; and     -   a second receiving chamber (at the bottom in the figures)         comprised between the filter element 180 and the central portion         1420.

In one or more embodiments, thanks to the fact that the central portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142 protrudes towards the outside of the cartridge 10, within the cartridge 10 itself there may thus be present, in addition to a “main” chamber for the substance S1, a “secondary” chamber located in the central portion 1420, which may receive a certain amount of the substance S2.

In one or more embodiments, the opening or openings 1428 may be made in the form of pervious through holes. Conservation of the aroma and, in general, of the organoleptic qualities of the substances S1 and S2 can hence be favoured by inserting the cartridge 10 in a sealed sachet (for example, of the flow-pack type), which can be opened by the user for taking out the cartridge 10 to be used.

In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here, the filter element 180 may comprise a radially outer portion applied at the openings 1428, which are possibly provided in the part of the bottom wall 142 that surrounds the central portion 1420.

In one or more embodiments, a further filter element 182 (e.g., including filter paper or nonwoven fabric) may be provided, coupled to the opening or openings 1428 provided in the protruding central portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.

In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here, the filter element 182 may be coupled to the opening or openings 1428 on the inner side of the bottom wall 142 of the cartridge 10.

FIG. 4 highlights the fact that, in one or more embodiments, the outer surface of the bottom wall 142 of the cartridge 10 may come to rest on an array of tips P that may be present in certain brewing machines (according to known criteria, exemplified in various documents cited in the introductory part of the present description) in order to perforate the bottom wall of the cartridges and cause outflow of the liquid product being prepared.

In one or more embodiments, as illustrated here, the sculptured outer profile (i.e., presenting cavities and reliefs) of the bottom part 142 may provide annular seats that may be arranged, so to speak, “straddling” the tops of the tips P, with the tips P functioning as supporting formations that are able to support the bottom wall 142 of the cartridge 10 during preparation of the liquid product.

As already indicated in the introductory part of the present description, the preparation of a liquid product with a cartridge as exemplified here may involve, according to criteria in themselves known:

-   -   perforation of the top sealing foil 16 of the cartridge via a         set of perforating tips of the brewing machine;     -   entry into the cartridge 10, through the perforated foil 16, of         hot water and/or steam, which produces with the substance 12         contained in the two chambers of the cartridge 10 a mechanism         commonly defined (even if in a way perhaps not altogether         correct) as infusion; and     -   outflow of the resulting liquid product through the bottom wall         142 (e.g., through the openings 1428 provided in the protruding         portion 1420 and, possibly, in the other portions of the bottom         wall 142 that surround it).

It will be appreciated that, in one or more embodiments, thanks to the presence of the two substances S1 and S2, the resulting product may be a bicomponent product, for example coffee or tea with milk and/or sugar, coffee or milk with chocolate, etc., this example evidently not exhausting all the possible combinations.

In one or more embodiments, the presence of the filter element 180 set so as to separate the receiving chambers in which the substances S1 and S2 are present can facilitate not only the operation of filling of the cartridge but also separation of the two substances until the end product is prepared, without on the other hand hindering the infusion process.

In one or more embodiments, the presence of the filter element 182 may facilitate the action of contrast to exit from the cartridge 10 of the ingredients contained therein (e.g., of the substance S2) through the openings 1428 provided in the protruding portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142.

The fact that in one or more embodiments there may be provided openings 1428 also in parts of the bottom wall 142 that surround the protruding portion 1420 and that the peripheral part of the filter element 180 can extend also over said openings can facilitate the action of contrast to exit from the cartridge 10 of the ingredients contained therein (e.g., of the substance S1) through the openings 1428 that may be provided in the parts of the bottom wall 142 that surround the protruding portion 1420.

In one or more embodiments, the fact that the liquid product, and in particular the fraction thereof in which there is likely to be a greater presence of the substance S2, can flow out of the capsule 10 mainly (if not exclusively) through the openings 1428 provided in the protruding portion 1420 of the bottom wall 142 makes it possible to limit undesired phenomena of cross-contamination of the tips P by the substance S2 used for preparing a certain product. The tips P may in fact subsequently be used for preparing liquid products, for example for preparing beverages in which the presence of this substance is not envisaged: consider purely by way of example the case of sugar.

In one or more embodiments, as exemplified here, it may be envisaged that the central portion 1420 is flush with the plane B-B′ in which the peripheral rim 1432 of the bottom wall 142 lies, i.e., it does not protrude from the casing of the cartridge 10 beyond this plane (see FIG. 3).

In one or more embodiments, it is possible to envisage that the central portion 1420 protrudes from the casing of the cartridge 10 beyond the plane B-B′ in which the peripheral rim 1432 lies.

In one or more embodiments, it is likewise possible to envisage that the opening or openings 1428 for outflow of the aforesaid liquid product from the cartridge 10 is/are located only in the protruding central portion 1420, with the bottom wall 142 that, on the other hand, around the protruding central portion, is without openings for outflow of the liquid product from the cartridge 10.

In one or more embodiments, it is likewise possible to envisage that the central portion 1420 is shaped like a spout for delivery of said liquid product.

One or more embodiments may envisage providing assortments of cartridges such as those exemplified herein, the assortment comprising cartridges 10 of two or more different types, in which the central portion 1420 protrudes from the bottom wall 142 by a different amount, for example by a first amount in a first type of cartridge, a second amount, different from the first, in a second type of cartridge, a third amount in a third type of cartridge, and so forth.

This difference between the cartridges of the assortment may be reflected, for example, in different levels of presence of the second substance S2 (e.g., different levels of sugar) with respect to the first substance S1, possibly also according to the different nature of the first substance S1 and/or of the second substance S2.

Of course, without prejudice to the underlying principles, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary, even significantly, with respect to what has been illustrated herein purely by way of non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the extent of protection.

The extent of protection is defined by the annexed claims. 

1. A cartridge for the preparation of a liquid product by means of liquid and/or steam introduced into the cartridge, the cartridge including a casing having therein a first receiving chamber with a filling of a first substance for the preparation of said liquid product, said casing having a bottom wall for said liquid product to flow from the cartridge, wherein: said bottom wall presents, when observed on the outer side with respect to the cartridge, a central protruding portion providing therein a second receiving chamber with a filling of a second substance for the preparation of said liquid product, on said bottom wall there is applied a laminar filter element which separates said first receiving chamber from said second receiving chamber.
 2. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein said laminar filter element includes filter paper or non-woven fabric.
 3. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein said bottom wall has at least one opening for the outflow of said liquid product from the cartridge, said at least one opening being at said central protruding portion of the bottom wall.
 4. The cartridge of claim 3, including a further filter element coupled to said at least one opening at said central protruding portion of the bottom wall.
 5. The cartridge of claim 4, wherein said further filter element is coupled to said at least one opening at the inner side of the bottom wall with respect to the cartridge.
 6. The cartridge of claim 4, wherein said further filter element includes filter paper or non-woven fabric.
 7. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein said bottom wall has openings for the outflow of said liquid product from the cartridge both at said central protruding portion of the bottom wall and around said central protruding portion, with said laminar filter element preferably extending also on said apertures around said central protruding portion.
 8. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first substance for the preparation of said liquid product is selected out of: powdered roasted and ground coffee, leaf tea, powdered or soluble milk.
 9. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein said second substance for the preparation of said liquid product is selected out of: soluble coffee, powdered milk, soluble chocolate, soluble barley, sugar, powdered soluble flavorings, and combinations thereof.
 10. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the casing of the cartridge includes a sealing foil closing the casing of the cartridge at the end opposite to said bottom wall.
 11. An assortment of cartridges according to claim 1, including at least a first and a second cartridge, wherein: in said first cartridge, said central portion protrudes with respect to said bottom wall of a first amount, and in said second cartridge, said central portion protrudes with respect to said bottom wall of a second amount, said first amount and said second amount being different from each other. 